If Ridley Scott were the twin lens reflex, all singing, all dancing fantastic Leica lensed bohemoth of cinema, then brother Tony is the disposable camera. Both equally capable of creating the perfect picture, but one might produce a better consitency of shot than the other. What a great metaphor… or am I talking complete rubbish?
Anyway, Tony Scott, like his brother, has a pretty good history of efforts with the likes of TOP GUN, TRUE ROMANCE, CRIMSON TIDE and THE LAST BOY SCOUT to his name. His list of movies is impressive, some of the best action movies ever made… but for every belter like the under-rated MAN ON FIRE, there’s the downright stinker (THE FAN? Anyone?). So, like that aforementioned disposable camera, yes he is capable of delivering a decent enough picture, but sometimes we do get a duff one with that label stuck across it… must do better next time.
So, enough with the metaphors as Scott’s latest effort, THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, hits DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK on January 11th, 2009. The film pairs Scott with regular leading man Denzel Washington, an actor that he has worked with on no less than four movies in total. Here, a rather bloated Denzel is joined by bad-ass villain John Travolta as one of a bunch of ‘terrorists’ who hijack a New York subway train full of passengers in an effort to extort a massive $10 million ransom from the city. Cue a flurry of high-octane action sequences (courtesy of fellow Scott regular, editor Chris Lebenzon), a heavy dose of bloody bloodshed, profanity filled potty mouth banter, one crazy mother-f***in’ bad guy in the form of Travolta etc, etc, etc, all played out in pretty much ‘real time’.
It’s paint by numbers stuff, but hang on a second… this is a remake, brought bang up to date from the original source novel by Brian Helgeland. Is it as good as the original? Well, not, but consider this a very different movie.
In Helgeland’s screenplay we have a ton of bang-up-to-date gizmos and gimmicks thrown in for the ride — like internet links, mobile phones, cybersex, Sony badged laptops and much more. In fact, it’s all over the top stuff, definitely more adult orientated than its 1974 counterpart. From fast paced opening title sequences, to strobed, sweeping city views and on to one hell of a performance from bearded, poiny side-burned Travolta, who manages to shout his way through every scene that he appears in.
Denzel’s character provides a mellow flip side to Travolta’s goon and John Turturro also appears in a more limited performance than usual. It’s a great trio of some of today’s best Hollywoo talents, and they all do just fine in the roles that they assume, thought Turturro really needs to shy away from the awkward official looking, erm… official, for fear of type-casting.
In all, on a snowy Sunday afternoon, when I sat down and viewed it, it was a decent enough movie to spend an hour and a half in front of. There’s nothing amazing to shout about, despite Travolta’s efforts and it’s neither box-office bomb, or indeed box-office brilliance. In fact, it’s typical, throw-away, disposable, Tony Scott… serves a purpose, handy to have in the house and delivers a few choice, memorable moments, but not a lot more.
— Paul Heath, January 2009
Format Reviewed: DVD (also available on Blu-Ray, January 11th, 2009 – UK Region 2).
The Extras:
- Audio Commentaries featuring Director Tony Scott, Writer Brian Helgeland, and Producer Todd Black –
- No Time To Lose – Making of Pelham 123 (30:00) – The making of contains interviews will of the main cast including Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Director Tony Scott also chimes in along with the producers and writer Brian Helgeland. All discuss bringing the project to the screen, casting, changes from the original novel and film and the characters, including why they made Denzel’s character a normal guy rather than a cop. The filmmakers discuss the research that went into making the flick, the differences between the underground world of the subway and the clean office space of the MTA and how they moulded and created the many characters with the actors. A nice little ‘amking of’ that covers a lot of the production and at half and hour long, makes a nice, worthy addition to the DVD release.
- “The Third Rail: New York Underground” (16:15) – A mini-featurette focussing on the New York Subway system. 6000 trains run throughout the average day in NYC, and it is the only system to have a 24 hour, round the clock subway service. There are interviews with subway workers, and the doc focusses in on how much people rely on the system, including John Travolta, who looks back to his late teenage years when he uses the subway everyday, filming commercials TV pilots and that little movie called SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. Denzel Washington and other cast members also relay their memories about using the train network.
- “From The Top Down (05.06) -Styling Hair and Character” – Exactly what is says on the tin. Director Tony Scott and hair stylist Danny Moumdian talk about the look of the film (hair wise). Brilliant, if you’re into hair, particularly how they sculpted Travolta’s ‘burns’ etc. See Tony Scott get a short back and sides too!
- Marketing Pelham (06.48) – A montage of previews of the movie – ie, how they made us want to go see it. Gotta love that 99 Problems Jay-Z mix (which also opens up the flick)
- Trailers – Additional trailers for other Sony Pictures releases including TERMINATOR SALVATION, THE INTERNATIONAL, 2012, THE UGLY TRUTH and ANGELS & DEMONS. There’s is also the Sony Blu-Ray trailer chucked in as a bonus.
The DVD Grades:
Movie B-/ Picture B/ Audio A/ Bonus Material B+
Also on Blu-Ray
